2. • A special report appeared in NY Times on November 22nd 2010.
It was called ‘Radiation worries for Children in Dental Chairs’.
They claimed that the 3-D Cone Beam x-rays produce far
greater radiation than the 2D x-rays (5 times more to be exact),
orthodontists have very little knowledge of how much radiation
is delivered by cone beam machines, and there is very little
independent research done in this area. Unless used for oral
surgery such as in implant planning these 3D images are of very
little benefit to orthodontists and should not be used. The only
reason the orthodontists are using the 3D Cone Beam is
because they are mesmerized by the beauty of the images and
are paid by the manufactures of the Cone Beam equipment.
There is too much ionizing radiation going through the brain,
eyes, tongue, salivary glands, spinal cord, and there is an
increase chance in Thyroid Cancer in children.
3.
4. • Let us fast forward to October 2013! First of all I would like to give
full disclaimer that I have no financial interest in 3D Cone Beam
technology. The other disclaimer is that not all 3D Cone Beam
machines are created equally. The facts I am about to present deal
only with i-CAT FLX 3D Cone Beam, the only machine on the
market to my knowledge which reduces radiation approximately
80% from their previous models;
• We now have facts from independent sources such as Dr. John
Ludkow, University of North Carolina, School of Dentistry;
• The unit of measurement is microSevert. The amount of radiation
from one i-CAT FLX 3D Cone Beam equals to one 2D panoramic
xray, it also equals to one to two days of back ground radiation
exposure of just being outside if you live in Chicago and only ½
daily back ground exposure if you live in Colorado. We can now
control the area of the skull which we need to scan / examine. For
example, if are looking to determine 3D orientation of an
impacted canine in the upper jaw we can choose a slice of just an
upper jaw. Keeping the location of the scan away from thyroid
gland and also protecting thyroid with a lead apron eliminates the
debate of predisposing children to thyroid cancer. It also
eliminates the debate of keeping radiation away from the brain,
eyes, spinal cord, etc..
7. • Many micro images/slices taken in 3 planes. ICAT software reconstructs all slices into one 3D
image. Contrary to the Medical CT where
radiation stays constant (1,200 – 3,000 microSieverts per scan!), i-CAT FLX 3D CT produces
pulsed radiation. So for 8.9 sec scan the area of
interest is only radiated for approximately 2.4
sec.
8. • To rule out systemic deceases, to determine
the exact orientation of the Impacted Canines,
for Implant planning, for Suresmile
orthodontic GPS planning, to identify the
exact amount of bone covering the teeth, to
diagnose the extend of periodontal
breakdown, to assist in endodontic
procedures, to fabricate one to one replica of
a jaw of cranio-facial patient, patients with
cleft palate, for pre-Surgical planning. The list
goes on and on…
12. Fabricate one to
one replica of a
jaw of a craniofacial patient,
patients with cleft
palate, for preSurgical planning
Steriolithic model fabricated from an ICat FLX Cone
Beam CT
22. • Think of CAD/CAM the engineers’ use. Instead of
trying to eyeball the adjustments in the mouth we
use i-CAT FLX 3-D to visualize the tooth
movements needed. Once virtual set up is
produced Orametrix (Suresmile) corporation
manufactures custom made robotic flexible
memory wires for us to move the teeth into their
final destination. The result:
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–
–
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29% Reduction in Treatment Time
Fewer office visits
Less discomfort
High quality results
